More Info:

At stake in this election:

450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma)

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN

Head of Government: Premier Mikhail Mikhalovich KASYANOV

Assembly: Russia has a bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalnoye Sobraniye) consisting of the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) with 178 seats and the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma) with 450 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.

The Premier is appointed by the President.

In the Federation Council (Sovet Federatsii) 178 members are appointed by regional governing councils to serve 4-year terms*. In the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), 225 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms and 225 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies.**

* Members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units.

* United Russia was formed in December 2001 when the Unity (Edinstvo) party merged with the Father-Land All Russia party (OVR) to contest the 2003 elections. The Unity Party secured 73 seats while the OVR secured 68 seats in the last elections.

Last Parliamentary election:

According to the electoral commission, about 2,030 candidates and 23 electoral associations competed for the 450 seats in the State Duma.

Population and number of registered voters:

Population: 144,648,257 (2003)

Registered Voters: 108,906,244 (2003)

Gender Data:

· Female Population: 77,180,286 (2003)

· Is Russia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

· Has Russia ratified CEDAW: Yes (23 January 1981)

· Gender Quota: No

· Female candidates in this election: Yes

· Number of Female Parliamentarians: 45 (State Duma) following the 2003 elections